In 2012, the Archer Trade Association (ATA) conducted the first nationwide archery survey. The ATA reported that 18.9 million Americans age 18 and older participated in archery and/or bow hunting that year. This number has only increased since then. The New York Times reported in 2008 that 90% of “elite archers” would suffer from target panic at least once in their lifetime. If the 2008 rate of target panic held true for those archers surveyed in 2012 by the ATA, then approximately 17 million of those active archers would suffer from target panic.
Archery, like many sports, requires training of the mind and muscles. Repetitive conditioning of these two characteristics by an archer will facilitate the development of muscle memory, psychological confidence, and the proper body mechanics required to achieve desired arrow placement when shot at a target. Target panic is a psychological condition that causes the archer to prematurely shoot the arrow or actuate the mechanical release aid trigger prior to desired target acquisition, thereby, debilitating the archer from being able accurately and confidently place sight pins on target. There are various recommendations to resolving target panic that require the use of a bow and arrow. However, the recommendations do not alleviate the psychological impairments associated with physically shooting an arrow and risking an undesired flight path of an arrow or missing the target altogether.
Other common problems or challenges archers experience in addition to target panic include “punching” of the mechanical release aid trigger, muscle fatigue, and inadequate personal time to condition mentally and physically. “Punching” of an archer's trigger release aid occurs when the archer is unable to steady the sights pins on target and the archer rapidly triggers the release aid as the desired pin passes through the target. Muscle fatigue is associated with the amount of time an archer is able to dedicate to training in the activity of archery and the availability of training resources.
Archers cannot practice shooting their bow without nocking and then shooting an arrow. If an archer dry fires a compound bow (i.e., shooting the bow without using an arrow), the bow will most likely be damaged or ruined. Dry firing an actual bow creates atypical stresses and often results in breaking or damaging the bow string, cracking or shattering the bows limbs, damaging the cams, or other harm.
Conventional devices exist to try to help archers develop proper shooting form and muscle strength, control and memory. Thus, archers are able to dry fire these devices to practice archery without actually shooting an arrow. However, these devices are lengthy, or they are bulky mechanisms that attach to a bow or have their own handles. Such devices are not easily portable or stowed, and do not offer a combination of variables replicating the activity of compound bow shooting, such as a counter balanced replication of a grasped bow while drawing a bowstring, the utilization of accessory bow sights for target acquisition and aiming, the adjustability to accommodate the various hand grip styles unique to each archer, and immediate visual feedback to performance or shooting technique.
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